A Past Forgotten
by queen of magicians
Summary: The pharoah under his hood, and surrounded by very few guards, felt slightly…safer, even if that wasn’t the right word. Leaving the royal city as a commoner, would have been something he might have tried in his youth for fun. However, this was business.
1. Prologue

Authors note: My other stories ideas died with my muse a long time ago. Now I have new ideas, so maybe I will continue the others, But this story is practiacally already written so I shall post often until it is complete. Read and enjoy!

This is a redo of this story from before.

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Prologue

The Pharaoh would have been lying if he said he wasn't nervous. The thought of this particular event actually happening had never crossed his mind. However, times were changing for Egypt, and more and more armies challenging him for Egypt's lands caused him make many drastic decisions.

Hidden under his hood, and surrounded by very few guards, he felt slightly…safer, even if that wasn't the right word. Never before had he traveled hidden to another city; a secret mission that only he and very few others even knew he was venturing on. Leaving the royal city of Shakmet, as a commoner to most eyes, would have been something he might have tried in his youth for fun. Now, it was nothing to laugh at.

This was business.

The front gates to the city of Eranarea were very well protected. Even in the dead of night, on a dune only minutes from the city, the Pharaoh could see 5 guards. The Eranareans were known for decades as dark individuals. They possessed power as strong as fully trained magicians in his very own royal court at the age of 5. For this reason, the Eranareans had certain laws they abided by to stay "good" in the eyes of others. Most Egyptians were scared of them. Bedtime stories were riddled with tales of dark beings that were cursed and evil, mostly being described as people from this city, which most people thought to be a world of its own.

Still under cloak, the Pharaoh and his parade of 3 guards, and 2 magicians, made their way to the gates.

"Gadres, thy maldi fradthy poh." One guard came to them speaking very softly.

"Sir," one of the magicians spoke, "this guard does not know Egyptian, let me translate for you." The Pharaoh smiled. The Eranarean language was dying slowly, since the Eranareans very rarely reproduced with outsiders other then from its sister cities. It was why there kind was slowly depleting. This magician had learned Eranarean specifically to try to learn their magic before discovering his own.

The magician speaking normally to the guard gave an address.

"Gadres, phillhy rong yath. Gurme drut juhredo phik?"

"Guop edheth wy dok."

"Sir, he wishes to see our documents of address. It seems they have upped security, and they weren't notified of our arrival. I do believe he thinks we are robbers trying to break in under cover."

The Pharaoh chuckled slightly. The Queen on Eranarea had warned him this might happen in her letters. She had foreseen this, and had given him in his last letter a pendant, something of hers that she gave to important guests to her court.

"Give the man this pendant. Tell him we are invited."

The magician gave the pendant to the man who ushered over another couple of guards. They mumbled in surprise to each other before handing the pendant back to the Pharaoh himself.

Another guard addressed him this time. If the Pharaoh wasn't so learned about how to present himself in tricky situations, he would have snorted in humour at how poor this man's Egyptian was.

"Yous are invited to see HER? She never gave this pendant to others from the outside unless they are…special. Whos are yous?"

"Guests." The pharaoh said plainly before any of the others could answer first. "We are invited guests to her majesty the queen. Please allow us entrance without further question. The queen in her letters said this pendant would grant us passage without questions so that we may stay unknown."

The guard mumbled in Eranarean to the other guards before nodding his head and together the five guards opened the gate.

The party of six slowly entered the city. There was a distinct glow to the streets that oozed magical energy. Although the bazaar was empty of sellers, many people stood and watched them as they walked down the main street leading to the palace.

"They keep staring at us sir." One of the guards said extremely low so that only their party could hear.

"We are outsiders to them. Pay them no attention. We must complete this mission before morning."

The Palace was not guarded the way they expected it to be. There were no guards to be seen, in fact, only a young girl, no older than 6 sat on the first step to greet them.

"Mother is waiting for you." Was the only thing she said before guiding them through the castles many corridors to the throne room.

The doors swung open, and the girl disappeared down another corridor.

"Welcome travelers." The queen stood from her throne walking slowly towards them. Her Egyptian was perfect. She did have a light accent, but it was hardly noticeable.

"Your majesty, should we move to more private quarters, without ears to over hear?" The pharaoh nodded his head towards his guards.

"We will not leave your side…" One of the guards stated before the Pharaoh put his hand on his shoulder. He was going to tell him it was all right, but the queen interrupted.

"Your master is safe here with me. We will speak of things that are not to be heard by others. We do not want your fates to be tainted by our talkings. My lady's maid Frey will take you to the kitchens for something to eat and drink."

A women came out of the shadows beside the throne and bowed to her before smiling at them.

"Follow me." She spoke obviously well practiced with this single line. Her accent was so heavy that it was more then obvious this was one of the only sentences she could speak in Egyptian. The pharaoh nodded at them and they followed her out.

"You shouldn't have come with so little guards and magicians Pharaoh." She spoke after the doors had closed. She waved her hands and a table and set of chairs formed in the center of the room. "You should be more fearful in these times while traveling the desert. My pendant kept you safe, but this was not a smart decision for you." She pulled out her chair whipping her hands behind her making her cape flutter slightly before sitting in the chair. The pharaoh sat across from her.

"I am quite capable of crossing the desert in under 3 hours without a full army Yamaye." He addressed her by name.

"You shouldn't address an Elemental Ruler as such, the other Elementals would have my head already if they knew of our conversing."

"Then we don't let them know…Shadow."

"Acknamkannon, we shouldn't be doing this. Our worlds will fight for eternity even if we make a peace treaty. Making our children marry will make no difference besides by laws and looks. Atemu and Analyea should not be forced into this…"

"Your second daughter is a law breaker herself for your world Yamaye. A second daughter possessing the curse of the Shadow Ruler; should your first not have held the power?"

"Do not speak of Analyea as such…" She started before sighing. "No one knows that she is the ruler. Until she is 5 I pray no one will. Takara should be taking over my cursed life, and yet she is not. My second shall and she will not be ridiculed by the world. Law forbids her to be ruler, yet she is the one that carries the mark of the shadows." She snapped her fingers and some papers and a knife appeared on the table. "Pharaoh, you do realize that by signing you are cursing the life of your first granddaughter? And even if she is first born to your son, she will never belong to Egypt. She will never be Pharaoh. Your son will have to have 2 heirs for you to have another Pharaoh in your family line."

"I understand. I just wish that a peace treaty could be signed without a marriage with it."

"We have tried, as our parents before us, and their parents as well. Our worlds are different, and yours is fearful of mine. I have heard the stories that are told to the young, and the reputation my people have with yours. There is no other way. I too wish there was."

She looked down sullenly before grabbing the knife.

"I must sign in blood as all Elementals do. I wish you to as well." She pressed the knife to her finger until blood started trailing down the blade. She swirled her finger on the paper a few times, before pressing the blade to another fingertip and then doing the same with different swirls.

"Now you Acknamkannon." She wiped the knife on her black handkerchief she pulled from her pocket, before handing him the knife and turning the documents towards him.

The pharaoh hesitated before doing the same as she, and then wiped some more blood onto his ring and pressed it to the paper. The queen grabbed his hand when he was done and without touching his skin, ran her hand over his. The cuts instantly healed.

"Analyea will come to Shakmet no sooner then she is needed. She will not come until both are 17. She is born 1 month before your son so she will wait for him. She must pass the trials at 16 if she is to leave the city. When she comes make sure someone besides yourself knows of her arrival incase anything happens to you. They need to ask her if she is "2nd of 1". If she does not answer with "I am the 2nd", someone is posing as her and you have my full permission to do with them as you please as punishment."

They both stood and she walked him to the doors. "Be careful Pharaoh. Your life's path is shrouded in darkness and shadows. . Your son's as well. I know I will see you face to face in your own city soon, I pray that it is not a battle between us that causes us to meet again. Farewell Acknamkannon, my friend.


	2. Chapter 1

Authors Blog: So this is the first chapter of my story. I decided that I wanted to change my story line slightly, so I took out everything. New story…same title.

Chapter 1:

The day was sunny, as if the weather every really changed in Shakmet. The odd day of rain, as few and far between as they were, were welcomed when the dry season hit. Thankfully, the Pharoah had no worry to his kingdom's crops as the wet season had made the harvest plentiful enough to last the kingdom through the drought. However, the Pharaoh wasn't the one that had to take care of the kingdom any longer. It was his heir's job now. The Pharaoh, Acknamkannon, had died.

Atemu stood infront of his giant mirror in his chambers talking to himself. His servants had only just left him after dressing him and fixing his kohl eye makeup. "Today is the day." He whispered to himself. "You are Pharaoh today. You get to have to sit on a thrown and have a party. This is something to be happy about."

…Deep breath…

"Nothing to be worried about…why are you so nervous Atemu?"

…Deep breath…

"Now…lets do this." He took another deep breath. He couldn't even comprehend why suddenly he was so nervous. He had been fine all week, but now that it was time, he figured that his nerves finally gave out.

Today was the young prince's 17th birthday, and the council decided that since his father had pasted on to the after life a few weeks previous, he would take his fathers place on his birthday. Atemu wouldn't lie to himself. In truth, he felt far to young to rule, but the kingdom, his kingdom, could not survive without a Pharaoh.

He walked out of his chambers into the hall and started toward the throne room. Guards walked beside him, but he was too busy trying to stay calm, that he barely noticed their presence.

The servants standing in front of the grand doors hurried to the handles as they saw him approach. Atemu took his final deep breath, before nodding at them to open the doors.

Walking to his new throne was the hardest part of the day. After that, he could party and relax. It was the walk he was dreading. His posture, his timing, even the sound his feet made as they hit the floor had to ring with royalty and strength to rule the kingdom. Truthfully, he had never really practiced the walk before. The late Pharoah had never expected his young boy to have to take the throne so early.

The doors opened wide and the servants stood holding them open. Atemu raised his head slightly, before walking through into the grand throne room. Everyone stood as he graced the marble floor, each step ringing with a sharp tap, his eyes never leaving the throne.

His royal court stood meters from his final destination. They all nodded their heads as he past. To his right stood Shadii holding the Mellenium Key. His long off white robe, and stark white cape stood out among the rest, as did his turban. Ishizu stood next to him, her Mellenium Necklace glittering around her neck. Since not many females had ever been in the courts before, her uniform was slightly more relaxed then the others, with a simple white dress and a white hat with a gold head plate. Standing farthest from the throne on the left was one of his best friends since birth, his Minister of Defense and Head Magician, Mahado, with his long black hair and white magician robes with gold shoulder plate. Around his neck was the Mellenium Ring.

He let his eyes glance to his left as he was meters from his throne. Farthest from him was old Acknadiin, his fathers brother with long white hair and long white robes with the Mellenium Eye gleaming from his right eye socket under his hood. Beside him, karim wore his black Egyptian wig with a gold band, and like always without a shirt, and only a skirt with a slim belt. However, today he was wearing his gold necklace. In his right hand he held the Mellenium Scales.

However, closest to the throne stood Seth proudly. His blue and gold headdress standing striaght on his head letting his always perfect brown hair frame his face. His deep blue eyes clear, and his ever present smirk on his face. His white robes fell around him as his blue and gold armour glittered on his chest. In his hand, he held the Mellenium Rod.

Reaching his fathers, no, his throne he turned around and was just about to sit, pulling his cape up from under him when the grand doors opened suddenly, and in ran a guard.

"MY PHAROAH… A ERANAREAN IS IN THE CITY, SHE BROKE THROUGH THE FRONT GATES…" He yelled running towards the now standing pharaoh.

Another guard suddenly ran through the doors, pushing them open again. "SHE HAS ENTERED THE CASTLE!" He continued after the other guard.

"Capture her immediately!" Seth spoke firmly. "Well don't just stand there!!" He angrily snapped.

"No need my priest, we have captured her." Two more guards entered with a struggling prisoner in cuffs between them.

"Harmes pofher gyth!" She spat as they pushed and she was forced to her knees infront of the pharaoh.

"An Eranarean. What are you doing so far from your city? Or can you even understand what I am saying?" Mahado spoke as clearly as he could, enunciating ever syllable very hard.

"I'm Eranarean, not stupid High Priest." She returned in perfect Egyptian. Everyone in the room did a double take. "If you wouldn't mind, Young King, would you tell your guards to release me and stop man handling me. This is very undignified." She clicked her tongue frustratedly.

Seth, walked over to her and stood tall above her kneeling form. "You shall not talk to the Pharaoh with such disrespect Eranarean." He spat.

"Well than maybe he shouldn't treat royalty with such disrespect. My name is Analysia, second born to Queen Yamaye, and high ambassador to Eranarea, High Priest Seth, cousin of the Young King." She glared at him. His eyes opened wide and he took a step back.

"Queen Yamaye, noone but the high court speaks of her by her name, it is against Eranarean Law. " Aknadin gasped. "But second born? I never knew the Queen had a second child…"

"Mother doesn't speak often of me as her child, usually I am just known as the Ambassador." She spoke softly looking directly at the pharaoh.

"Well she doesn't look like trouble to me, and besides the Eranarean's are trying to make peace with us. Guards release her." Seth tried to intervene but Atemu just held up a hand. The guards released her and she rubbed her wrists after standing. Her dark purple dress fitted her top tightly, and flowed outwards past her waist. A black cape covered her back, and she wore gold slippers on her feet. Her blonde hair, lay dead straight down her back, slightly covering the large earrings she wore. Both wrists had gold bands on them as well.

"Much thanks, at least someone here has manners…" She scrunched her nose at Seth. The high priest clenched his fist around the Millennium Rod and bit his tongue.

"Why are you in Shakmet Ambassador?" Karim asked politely.

"Please don't call me that. Ana works fine. Its less formal, and I think it works better in harsh situations…like this one has become…" She added, a small blush forming on her cheeks. "And to answer your question, I am here because of a peace offering my mother, and the late Pharaoh made when the Young King was born. It states that I was to arrive on his 17th birthday after his father had past…"

"She knew he was to pass on…so she does have visions…" Ishizu interrupted.

"Yes mother's gift is visions…sometimes they are correct like this one was. But more importantly it's the agreement that must be discussed, and I have a feeling it should be discussed in a more…private…location." She looked at the other occupants on both sides of the throne room.

"Nothing my brother agreed to needs to be in private. Let me see this document." Aknadin walked over to the blonde princess and took the document she pulled from inside her tunic. He pulled it open walking away reading it silently before his eyes went wide and he dropped the scroll. He whipped back around so fast his cape snapped.

"You know what this scroll says?" He asked eyes still wide and hands trembling.

"Yes I do. Frankly, I don't know how she agreed to it, since it is completely against everything in Eranarean Law." She smiled.

Aknadin was frozen in place so Seth grabbed the scroll from the floor before opening it.

"What does it say Seth?" The new king asked intrigued.

"Pharaoh…it's a marriage contract…" He whispered. Yet a gasp ensued and murmuring from the crowd.


	3. Chapter 2

**Author's blog**: So I have returned…and now I'm back to post more YAY!!!! Life can be so busy!

Sorry for the late posting…has it really been a year?! Sheesh put something off and it never gets done. Lets be an actual author and keep up with this kind of thing.

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"_Yes I do. Frankly, I don't know how she agreed to it, since it is completely against everything in Eranarean Law." She smiled._

_Aknadin was frozen in place so Seth grabbed the scroll from the floor before opening it._

"_What does it say Seth?" The new king asked intrigued._

"_Pharaoh…it's a marriage contract…" He whispered. Yet a gasp ensued and murmuring from the crowd._

Chapter 2

The gasps that filled the room never died even as the celebration continued. The now Pharaoh held up his hand, made a comment on that they would all discuss this later, but right now…they were all to have fun.

The Eranarean just shook her head and let out a frustrated click, before the Pharaoh asked a servant to take her to a room and for her to get settled.

Now, Ana was shuffling though what little she brought for some parchment, quill and ink. She huffed when she realized she had no ink in her bag. She looked at her window, and then at the door listening for anyone to pass by. When she was satisfied that there was no one near, she closed her eyes and placed a fist over her dry inkwell gripping it tightly. She breathed deeply and slowly started to release the well, bringing her hand up in a sweeping motion. Before flicking her hand over it again. The bottle nearly tipped over and she had to snatch it so it didn't fall over. She smiled when the well was now full of ink, before frowning.

"No magic Ana! You promised you wouldn't use any magic! You are on shaky ground as it is…you have got to stop! How hard would it have been just to go and get a servant to bring you a new well?" she slapped herself before rubbing her cheek.

"Oww…" She whimpered.

"I'm getting to dependent on my magic…I have to learn to live without…or people are going to start questioning me." She looked in the mirror and pulled the hair away from her neck. As she turned her head she saw the odd black smudge under her left ear and sighed running a hand over it. "I won't let them know mother…I have to be careful…but you taught me how. If you were such good friends with his father…maybe I can learn to love his son?" She sighed dropping her hair and dipping the quill into the ink.

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The party had finished and the pharaoh had stepped outside of his room onto the balcony. He listened to the hot wind flow through his kingdom, the speech that flowed from the marketplace, and the far off sound of his new royal guard training. It was all very peaceful and relaxing to know that even if he had made a mistake in his crowning, life still moved on. He leaned against the railing and pressed a hand to his cheek. He was interrupted moments later by a knock on his door.

"Pharaoh?"

"Come in Seth."

The door opened to reveal the High Priest, and upon entering he closed the door right behind him.

"What has you so distraught Seth?"

"You. How could you let that thing into this palace? She made a mockery of your crowning, she has no respect for you, and she claims to have a marriage contract! How could you give her, her own room? This is…"

"She says she is royalty she shall be treated as such until otherwise proven. I have already sent some guards to Eranarea to make sure her story is true. If it is not, she shall be put into the prison and will pay her punishment. But for now, we need to try not to let prejudice cloud our judgment…" he trailed off looking out his window suddenly smiling. "Maybe I did learn something from my father about diplomacy after all…"

"This is not a time for jokes my King!" Seth said exasperated. "This is foolishness on your part. Even if she is the Princess, you're not going to actually follow through with the contract? Are you?"

"If there is my fathers seal and her mothers seal, then we must. But I do hope there isn't a time limit…I quite like being a bachelor and able to have any woman I please…"

"Pharaoh, this is important please try to be serious." Seth closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Sometimes I think you needed to grow up more before taking on this responsibility!"

"You think you could do better Seth!" The Pharaoh exclaimed. " Well maybe one time I will let you tr…" both heads turned to the door as a hard knock sounded.

"Enter." The pharaoh called glaring at his right hand man.

"Young King, I have sent a letter to the counsel. My hand maiden will be arriving tomorrow evening…" She stood in the doorway looking slightly out of place. She had changed in the short time between the celebration and now, and the pharaoh had to check himself before speaking.

He black and violet robes had been replaced with a white linen dress with gold bands on each long sleeve, the collar and the bottom. A white cloak had replaced her black cape with the same gold pattern on the tail end. She was wearing golden flats as well.

"Please enter, it is not polite for a lady to stand in ones door way, please take a seat." Atemu motioned for her to sit in the seating area. However, Seth gave him a look of exasperation and glared at the new entrant of the room.

"Please forgive my coming Young King, or more the way in which I came. If I had known I would be arriving in your presence in chains, I would have brought my entourage. I wanted to come alone to your crowning. I felt it would be more appropriate. I should never assume that I would just be excepted wherever I go. I'm not used to not being treated so… But never mind. I do wish to speak to you about the contract however…"

"There is nothing to speak about!" Seth intervened. "As far as I am concerned, you are not welcome to this city. Your kind should not tarnish this city's streets…"

"Seth, please contain yourself!" The pharaoh said gasping. "That is no way to talk to a lady!"

"She is not a lady! She is an Eranarean…evil right down to her black heart!" Suddenly the High Priest found himself against a wall a black magical barrier surrounding his arms and legs holding him in place.

Ana's eyes glowed with magical energy, the gold pendant around her neck glowing dimly as well.

Atemu's eyes had opened wider, but no words left his mouth.

"You will not insult me as such!" She glared at the brunet against the wall. "Let me know why you are like this…" She walked up to him enraged. When only a few feet away from him, she placed her hand over the pendant on her neck and closed her eyes. The high priests however opened wider as he strained against the bindings.

Suddenly she took steps back. Here eyes clear, and the hand that was over her pendant, was now over her heart.

"I'm so sorry...I didn't…no one would…how…I mean your mother…" She stuttered.

"I'm sorry…" She fled the room quickly leaving a gaping Pharaoh standing in the middle of his room, and a stunned High Priest crumpled on the floor.

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**Authors Blog**: Ok I know this chapter gets us almost nowhere, but I wanted to update. If I have to make stupidly short chapters like this every once in a while just because I don't know how to go from one big thing to the next… well at least it keeps me posting! Hope you will all enjoy now that I am re posting!


	4. Chapter 3

**Authors Blog:** Ok here is another chappie. And I finally feel a little love. I HAVE A BETA READER!!! At least I know one person likes my stories *sniff sniff*…seriously…I need reviews to be happy… but yay to my lovely beta. Even though she seems to think I don't need her, (she is far too kind) I feel so much more competent with her correcting my work..

Onto another chapter!

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Ana slid down the door in her room. After fleeing the Pharaoh's chambers she couldn't stop crying. She could handle just simple prejudice, but not what she had felt from him. She knew that she shouldn't have used her magic like that. Why couldn't she hide herself better here in the dessert city? Gripping at her hair and pulling her legs up, the blonde slammed her head against the door wondering why was she so emotional all of a sudden. And it suddenly came to her.

"It's the location…" She finally whispered to herself. Sure she had left the city on many missions…but that was always under the power of the Shadows. Now she was out of Eranarea without them guiding her moves, giving her strength she normally didn't have as well as a sharper tongue more useful in heated situations. She was by herself under her own power, her own strength, and her own tongue. And she was failing herself. She couldn't control her magic, because in Eranarea she didn't have to. To The Shadow Ruler part of herself control is everything, but without the costume and the atmosphere of danger…

"I'm being lazy about control…how stupid can you be Ana…you passed your trials…just learn control outside the city walls…you do it all the time when your…uhhh don't say it." She slapped herself across the face again and winced. "Thetra me'thi" She whispered closing her eyes.

She whimpered into her knees softly, the tears staining her white dress. Finally, whipping the tears from her eyes, she stared across the room at her wardrobe and side mirror.

Resolutely she stood up and walked over to the tall, full-length mirror. Staring at her reflection was something she rarely allowed herself. Her flesh reflected in the mirror's shine, but her eyes…she knew it was not her own staring back. She learned that awful truth shortly after her mothers passing.

"Shadows…" she whispered. "I do your bidding and you do mine…now please listen to my plea..." The eyes glowed a bright eerie red in her reflection while her own stayed the same sea blue. "I need strength to hide my identity. They must not know the secret of the shadows. The pharaoh is your watching, while I am your Queen. Please…"

"Dearest Princess to us…" Whispered a soft voice almost as like on the wind. Ana's blonde hair blew away from her left ear revealing the black smudge. "Our dearest beauty to our darkness…"

"Shadows…it's been…"

"We have been silent for too long…your powers are wavering. Your slips have had nothing to do with you and everything to do with us. We beg…and plead forgiveness from our most precious gem."

"Forgiven. You will guide me and give me strength until I have enough power to do so myself once again?" She whispered to her reflection watching her lips move, as the eyes changed from a bright red to a dark crimson.

"Your strength is our strength. Your weakness is our weakness. We are one and the same…Shinning Light… if you ask us for help, we will guide you. It is your flesh that walks the ground of our sister realm. Your flesh that does our bidding, and your flesh that grants us our victories. But for now, until you once again are still of mind, we will bless our Gracious Queen with what she desires."

"…Shadows give my mind rest…I forcefully took a thought from the High Priest…I know better…I have better control than that even on my worst days…why did you choose then to make your presence known…why did you need to know?"

"This is why we chose to wait for you instead of letting you sister speak with us. You are most brilliant in every assumption you make, questioning things we make you do for no reason but curiosity. The reality of his knowledge of his mother's death is what we required to know. When we realized that he held the Millennium Item of Thought Manipulation…we needed to know what he had grown up knowing." The image then ghosted out from the mirror. If she were to step aside, like she had done many times as a child, she would have found that her reflection disappeared and all that remained was the wall behind her. The mirror image stepped towards her. Ana watched the image of her hand reach out and touch her arm.

"Ana…" Ana looked up at the image stunned. The Shadows never used her name. Always they called her something beautiful and spectacular like they couldn't believe they were so lucky to have her…something she never could get used to was their constant compliments. But they had called her by first name…and the abbreviated form at that.

'This must be serious…' she thought to herself.

"Deadly serious…we feared correctly about the New Pharaoh's Cousin. His knowledge…is a lie. We feared as such. His hatred for your kind…is not necessary…"

"Then our people…didn't murder his mother…"

"No…they didn't…" the figure let go of Ana's and turned away. For a split second Ana raised a hand to the back of her head, smoothing out the mess in her hair, she saw in the image before realizing what she was doing, and replaced them at her side. The figure seemed…unnerved.

"We did…we killed his mother. We feared for her life, and in a split second of misguided caring that we rarely can afford to show, we sparred her soul from the torture it would have gone through if she were to live. We find that the last three generations of your family…are unnatural caring and generous…and it is…effecting us. We realized after saving her…that perhaps we should have found a secondary solution. Her dear child only six years old…so impressionable…" the figure tuned back before stepping backwards. "It was bandits…they took the city by storm. Hundreds feared death. By a chance of fate, a few monsters left unbound were in the souls of a few mortals. Unfortunately, we have lost control of those monsters unbound…they fought as they could against the bandits…and yet, still many humans died that need not to have…there were few bandits from that night arrested by the New Pharaoh's father. One of them…an Eranarean outcast…an Abrustrol."

"An Abrustrol...of course." Ana glanced at the ground in thought.

"Someone is coming…we must make haste. Beware of your presence here Young Princess…our presence is not welcome…despite the circumstances. We will help calm you this evening while you sleep. We will then disappear again until necessary…we will not intrude again. You will be yourself tomorrow. Tonight, come up with an excuse for your behaviour, and make it believable. Goodbye our darling Shadow Keeper…"

The figure walked backwards into the mirror and solidified the eyes slowly turning blue. Ana fell to the ground suddenly, feeling suddenly empty. A knock sounded on her door.

"Enter." She said slowly standing up and walking to her vanity desk.

"Your Highness, I have a rushed returned message to you from the palace of Eranarea. It has just arrived."

Ana walked to the door and smiled at the messenger.

"Thank you." She reached into her pocket and pulled out a few silver pieces handing them to him in exchange for her letter.

"Um…what is this?" He stared at the silver his eyes wide.

"Payment…is this wrong? Is it not enough?" She reached into her pocket and pulled out some more.

"No one pays a messenger…" His eyes widened even further.

"No one pays their messenger…but how do you make a living then?"

"I work another job, this is just for the exercise and the travel. I trade for my living." He still stared at her hand holding the silver pieces.

"Well take this anyways. Eranarea is far away…" She took her letter and placed the few pieces of silver in his hand.

"You are far too kind…how are you one of those Eranareans. You are far too caring…" he bowed low to her and then ran down the corridor. Ana smiled after him.

Closing the door, she turned her letter over eyes going wide at the seal. She stumbled over to her vanity to pull out her knife to break it. Placing the knife to the seal, her hands began shaking and she dropped the knife. After a few moments with trembling hands that slowly became full body shudders, she slowly placed the envelope back on her vanity face down, seal up.

"When I am more myself I will deal with you." She placed her hand over it, before walking behind her curtain and changing into her sleeping dress. She slid into her bed glancing one more time at the envelope before turning on her other side and sleeping.

As the night grew darker, the envelopes seal glowed brightly. To anyone who might have sneaked into her room, it would seem very dark indeed, for the seal was very ominous. But to the trained eye, they would know that it was the seal of the Elemental Rulers.


End file.
